The present invention relates to the manufacture of sandwich type comestible products comprising rigid base cakes separated by a layer of filling material which is applied in a flowable state and subsequently hardens or sets, and more particularly, to apparatus for handling such products during the period when the filling material is hardening.
Creme sandwich cookies are conventionally manufactured by placing the bottom base cake flat on a belt conveyor, depositing a warm semifluid layer of creme filling onto each of the bottom base cakes, and placing the top base cakes on top of the filling layer. The formed sandwiches are conventionally stacked on edge on a belt conveyor in continuous parallel columns, each column being positioned between a pair of longitudinally extending rods for lateral support. This conveyor passes through a cooling tunnel to cool and harden the creme filling and thus prevent distortion or separation of the cookies during subsequent handling by machinery which counts, stacks and packages the cookies.
As the column of sandwiches are moved along the lateral supporting rods, some creme filling material is occasionally transferred to the surface of the rods, where it hardens and tends to form the nucleus of a buildup of the filling material. In the exposed portions of the conveyor, such buildups can be seen and removed without interrupting the flow of product. The interior of the cooling tunnel, however, is not readily accessible and the buildup cannot be easily detected, and, if detected, cannot be removed while the production line is in operation. When a buildup occurs, the flow of product past the obstruction ultimately becomes blocked. The cookies then pile up, break, and flow over the rods so as to disrupt the operation of the entire production line. The line must then be shut down while the cooling tunnel is emptied and cleaned.